Say Goodbye

Granted, I'm basing my star recommendation on memory only, and in the context of being an 8-year-old kid watching this film during school in the '70s (so I knocked a couple stars off for the film potentially being outdated). However, this film made a huge impact on my life. It's hard to watch, graphic, and raw - and very important. This is no watered-down version of man vs. animal, or the cruelty that we can inflict. As such, we were given a choice whether to stay and watch the film or leave the classroom while it ran. I'm glad I stayed, as (as you can tell) the impact of the film has stayed with me to this day. I recall the scenes of the baby seals being clubbed, a giraffe (maybe?) who had a spear thrown at her (as I recall it was a female...) which stuck in her neck but didn't kill her until days later after a long chase while she slowly bled to death. An important work with an important message, which sadly is probably still as relevant today as it was 30 years ago.

I remember seeing this film at Science Camp and years later, showing it to kids at the camp myself as a naturalist. Other more experienced naturalists rattled off the changes that had taken place since the film had been published. It was printed in 1971 and by 1982 when I showed it, many of the species said to be in danger were extinct. I'll always remember that the first reel contained all the graphic images and we could relax for the second half. I remember hearing on the news that a study had been conducted showing that graphic environmental films were not effective because people tended to shut out the images from their mind soon afterward. I knew as soon as I heard it that they had to be referring to this film. It was the year that I was a naturalist that the decision was made to stop showing it. It was so violent. The most memorable image was a long view of a prairie dog standing on it's hind legs watching for danger and suddenly it exploded into bits. It had been shot by a rancher concerned that his cows would trip in their burrows. I was always conflicted at the conundrum, knowing that you are trying to show the graphic nature of a horrific act like that, and yet not stopping it but rather catching it on film. I give my high rating not because it was such a beautifully made film or that it's violent nature was the best way to wake us up. I give it because the film tried so hard at the start of the environmental movement to show us uncomfortable images of what was really out there, things that most people would never see. It is quite outdated now. Hell, it was outdated just 12 years after it was made because it was showing animals that were not long for the world. A similar film could be made today with the lessons learned from all those years ago. Remember that this film was made in the years leading up to the landmark legislation of 1974 that would ultimately reverse the destruction of Lake Erie and in what were actually much more smoggy skies of the 1970s compared to today. It seems ironic that all those years ago, people had to demand pollution controls to clean up the air when today, there are those that would tell you that such controls should be dropped because they don't believe the dire consequences said to befall us without them. This was an important film.

Literally.

For some reason, out of nowhere, the title song of this film - and memories of the footage - recently came back to haunt me. (The reason may be pretty easy to explain: I just underwent surgery, and anesthesia has some funny ways of shaking things loose.) As so many did, I saw - probably projected - this film as a kid, on 16mm as it made the school rounds during the seventies. (I'd love to have a reasonably decent print in 16mm today, as I still own a couple of projectors and occasionally exorcize the 16mm demons.) The film (and memories thereof) was all the more haunting as the optical track was influenced by the legendarily awful wow & flutter and sub-par amplification and speaker system of the Bell & Howell Specialists it was most commonly run through.

Some four decades later I wonder if adult eyes might see sensationalism where twelve year old eyes were shocked, but you can't fake *all* that footage. A truly wonderful film albeit in a horrible way. Forgive me, but the "Schindler's List" of nature films.

Thanks to the good old IMDb for letting me get this out.

I saw this film on a 16mm film in 3rd grade when my teacher showed it to us. It's tells you what's happening to our world's animals. It's also pretty graphic. In fact, too graphic for 3rd graders. We have a scene with poachers beating seals to death. Those big jerks! Of course, it was probably a reenactment and they were not using real seals. Of course, this film was made in 1970 and I saw it 20 years after it was made (in 1990). A lot could've changed between now and then, but we still need to protect our environment and save our animal friends.

I can remember watching this documentary on TV on or near it's release. I was in my early teens then and was totally shocked by some of the graphic scenes that were shown, numerous scenes that today would not escape the censors. One particular scene I remember is a female Polar Bear being shot and as it lay dying calling to its 2 cubs to run for their lives to escape the guns. The Seal Cull already mentioned was also very brutal and Prairy Dogs being shot as they appear from their burrows. Some of these scenes were shown in slow motion making the effect even more dramatic for want of a better word. A very upsetting experience back then and one which I'm sure I couldn't put myself through again, animal lovers stay well away.